It’s that time of year to get ready for those summer sports competitions, including fun runs, swimming, cycling, walking or any long continuous activity.

Aerobic and muscular endurance training is essential for most sports to increase your stamina. The development of aerobic and muscular endurance is one of the main factors in improving performance for all sports where performance time is greater than 2 minutes.

So what exactly is aerobic and muscular endurance and how does a person go about training for it?

Let’s first understand and define aerobic and muscular endurance.  Aerobic endurance is the ability of the aerobic systems to produce a certain level of work or exercise for a prolonged period of time without fatigue.

Muscular endurance is the proper combination of strength and endurance. In other words, it’s the ability to perform many repetitions against a given resistance for a prolonged period of time.

The level of aerobic endurance is determined by the efficiency and conditioning of your aerobic system, which include the following: improve the heart and cardiovascular system so blood (and oxygen) can be delivered around the body more efficiently, increase the body’s ability to utilize oxygen, decreased resting heart rate, and increase the body’s ability to recover from heavy bouts of intense exercise. 

It’s the perfect time of year to start an aerobic conditioning program. Aerobic conditioning should constitute the first level of your training cycle and encompass the largest block of time. This could result in up to 40-60 percent of your training period of six to nine months depending on the sport, competition duration and experience level.

Training in this zone provides the physiological foundations that enable the body to handle the higher intensity levels added later.

The level of endurance needed varies specifically from sport to sport. A marathoner or triathlete may need to spend multiple hours of continuous aerobic endurance training, whereas a 10k or middle-distance participant may engage in 30-60 minutes of training in a day.

Continuous distance training of long duration, endurance workouts are commonly done at a low intensity. This would be about a perceived rate of exertion of 5-7 on a scale of 10, or below about 75 percent of your maximum heart rate.

Another way to monitor the correct intensity level is by maintaining a “conversational level” of intensity. This means you should be able to carry on a conversation while engaging in an aerobic workout.

Lactate production (the substance which causes our muscles to burn and tie up) is low enough to allow extensive, although comfortable, training sessions to the athlete’s limit of aerobic endurance and slightly beyond. We are primarily using slow twitch muscle fibers at this level. They become stronger and more capable of utilizing oxygen to produce energy, while conserving glycogen and glucose and teaching your muscles to utilize fat for energy.

A high level of endurance takes a long time to mature. In a beginner-level individual it will take years to maximize the benefits, rather than days or weeks.

Start with a 20 minute workout two to three times a week and slowly increase the volume of uninterrupted training at a maximum range of 10-15 percent duration a week to allow the body to adapt and make gains in this area.

One workout a week should slowly increase to 1.5-4 times the length of your normal daily average workout depending on your sport.

Most individuals don’t have the discipline or patience to build their aerobic endurance before adding much higher intensity training or competition to their program. This inevitably results in fitness declines, poor performance and injury.

Endurance is improved not only by long-duration workouts, but also by consistent, chronic exposure to the primary activity. In other words, weekly volume of training plays a role in the development of endurance, but not as great as your workout duration.

There is also plenty of opportunity during the aerobic training period to work on technique.

Always consult your doctor before starting any new exercise program and consult an expert to structure a more specific program for your needs.

Gary Bredehoft is a certified strength and conditioning specialist, certified personal trainer and owner of Tiger Coaching & Personal Training in Lincoln. His column runs monthly.